Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has confirmed he wants to fight again after taking a few months out to recover following three defeats in a row.
“I sparred with Kamaru [Usman] in Miami when [Alexander Volkanovski] got his belt back,” Adesanya said during an interview with Sun Sport. “That was my first sparring back. I took some time off to let, you know, just chill and let the brain relax. And yeah, I just knew straight away. So I’ve been itchy for a while, bro. I’m ready to go!”
Two familiar foes in Paulo Costa and Sean Strickland are being mentioned as potential opponents for Adesanya upon his comebac.
Adesayana comfortably defeated Costa by TKO in their title clash back in 2020 and Costa hasn’t looked the same since. However, in his last fight Costa seemed much more like his old self during a unanimous decision victory over Roman Kopylov, and so ‘The Last Stylebender’ isn’t shutting the door on a rematch.
“I don’t have to say much,” Adesanya said when asked about the fight. “I’d be like, ‘Cool, alright, that sounds fun’ and give him (Costa) a chance at redemption like people have done for me as well.“
As for Strickland, he delivered a major upset when he handily defeated Adesanya on the scorecards to seize the 185lb title back in 2023, and so that’s a fight that he’s already said he wants to run back, though he’s not overplaying his hand.
“Strickland, if he wants to fight, sure. If not, it’s alright,” Strickland said.
